As the Denver Broncos prepare for its second straight trip to the playoffs, my thoughts drifted back to the legendary back-to-back Super Bowl wins in the late 1990s.
A few hundred goosebumps pop up still when I think about those teams.
Yes, the main focus and joy surrounded the final Super Bowl-winning culmination of a Hall of Fame career for quarterback John Elway, but for me, this memory was just as much about three other players.
Without the play of this trio, there would be no hoisted trophies.
What I love about these three is the ultra humble beginnings they all had, and the spectacular trajectory they all enjoyed once they were given the chance.
Two are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and it can be argued that the third should be in Canton.
Let’s call them The Overachievers. A quick glance at their careers and there’s an immediate response of — Overachievers, these superstars? No way.
But yes — Rod Smith, Terrell Davis and Shannon Sharpe— were NFL overachievers.
And all, along with Elway, are two-time Super Bowl champions with Denver.
Let’s start with the running back who gave the Broncos that missing piece of their Super Bowl success puzzle.
Terrell Davis was a sixth-round draft choice out of Georgia. Basically a borderline afterthought. The 196th pick of the 1995 draft.
In three years at Georgia, he rushed for less than 2,000 yards. He gained more in one epic season for Denver in 1998. Nagging injuries and mediocre speed dropped him way down the draft board.
But Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan saw something.
Or did he?
Davis was trudging through training camp as the sixth-string running back and a super longshot to make the team.
Then, in the second preseason game, playing in Tokyo against San Francisco, Davis was on the kickoff coverage team.
And yes, the rest is history.
A Hall of Fame career that started with a single play in a preseason game. A play that personified an attitude and determination that demonstrated he was a NFL player.
Davis bolted down the field and unleashed a punishing hit that totally pancaked the returner.
It was that ferocious tackle that ignited a celebration and made an eye-opening impression on coaches, including Shanahan.
Davis was soon in the lineup ripping off big runs and became the starting running back for the season, rushing for 1,117 yards
Sixth-round draft choice, sixth string, one crushing special teams hit, and a chance.
Yes, an overachiever, who went on to be a Super Bowl legend and Hall of Famer.
Shannon Sharpe had a spectacular college career, but he played for Division II Savannah Sate in Georgia.
He was a “tweener” — too big to be a wide receiver and too small to play tight end. So plummet he did in the 1990 draft.
Finally, Denver snagged him in the seventh round with 192nd pick.
With low expectations for this tweener, it was basically another low-round afterthought.
His first two seasons as a wide receiver produced a rather pathetic 29 catches for 421 yards.
But he was then switched to tight end and the rest is history.
In 1993, his career exploded as a go-to target for Elway.
Another player, on the verge of being cut from the team, who was given the chance and the result was a Hall of Fame career and three Super Bowl rings (one with Baltimore).
The final overachiever is really the ultimate overachiever story.
Rod Smith’s most memorable TD came in Super Bowl XXXIII against the Atlanta Falcons. An electrifying 80-yard grab and gallop that gave the Broncos a 17-3 lead in the second quarter en route to the 34-19 championship victory.
But it was another catch four years earlier that was the start of this legendary career.
It was his first-ever NFL catch.
As the Broncos broke the huddle trailing the Washington Redskins, Elway barked at the young receiver “Be ready, Rod!”
Rod was ready and Elway unleashed a laser on the final play of the game that Smith leaped and snagged between two defenders for the winning 43-yard TD.
He only had six catches that year and only 16 the next year.
His career started in 1994 when he signed with Denver as an undrafted free agent. He would become one of the greatest undrafted free agents in NFL history.
Like Sharpe, Smith played Division II football. His career at unheralded Missouri Southern State was tremendous and he would eventually be elected into the DII Football Hall of Fame.
But every NFL team scoffed at his ability and statistics as a DII wide receiver with average speed.
After that first catch and those first two inconsequential seasons, his career took off and the rest is history — eight 1,000 receiving seasons and two Super Bowl rings.
Throughout his career, there’s a golden overachiever story for Smith. He often said that every time he approached his locker he would look at his name to make sure it was still there and he still had a job.
The ritual was a constant reminder that his NFL job was never guaranteed. As that undrafted player, his philosophy was to fight for his job every day in every practice and in every game.
Work ethic and determination and that untapped potential that the Broncos decided to take a chance on, is what made him a star.
He’s not in the Hall of Fame, but hopefully this ultimate underdog and overachiever will be some day.
It’s these kinds of overachievers, these kids of finds by a team that can be the difference between good seasons and great seasons.
True hidden gems are becoming more rare but when a team finds them, when an overachiever becomes a star, it’s proof that it’s not the beginning that matters. It’s the hard work and journey and that since chance that makes those rare finds a superstar.
And yes legendary seasons, like the back-to-back titles by Denver.
As we watch this Denver Bronco team look to make history and win a fourth Super Bowl in franchise history, let’s look back and salute, recognize and celebrate three overachievers who just needed a chance.
Those chances for Davis, Sharpe and Smith made them legends.
History is never guaranteed. These three earned that legendary status.
But it all started with just a chance — and yes indeed, the rest is history of the highest order.
Overachievers, yep. NFL legends? You better believe it.